Sailor Moon S
The third season of the Sailor Moon anime series, titled Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon S12 (美少女戦士セーラームーン , Bishōjo Senshi Sērā Mūn Sūpā), was produced by Toei Animation and directed by Kunihiko Ikuhara. It began broadcasting on TV Asahi on March 19, 1994, and ended on February 25, 1995. It adapts the "Infinity" arc of the Sailor Moon manga series by Naoko Takeuchi, and follows the adventures of Usagi Tsukino and her fellow Sailor Guardians. In this season, they must fight against the Death Busters, who are planning to take over Earth. In 2000, Cloverway Inc.licensed the season for an unedited English-language broadcast in North America. Optimum Productions continued to dub the series. The series aired on YTV, who adjusted the episode numbers to match those of the original Japanese version,3 from June 12, 2000 to August 1, 2000. Edited and unedited videotapes as well as uncut bilingual DVDs of their adaptation were released by Pioneer Entertainment. In contrast to DIC Entertainment's dub of the first two seasons, Cloverway retained the background music and sound effects from the original Japanese version. Eventually, in 2014, Viz Media licensed the series from the start for an uncut release, and released the first part of the season on November 15, 2016 and the second part on June 20, 2017. While Sailor Moon S began very similarly to the first two seasons, it eventually took a darker, more emotional turn. One of the controversies surrounding Sailor Moon S is in the romantic-lesbian relationship of Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune, who are subtly depicted as romantic lovers, although this is never mentioned directly. Takeuchi has openly admitted they are a romantic couple,4 and their voice actresses were instructed to play the characters "as if they are a married romantic couple."5 However, because of differing cultural standards, most countries outside Japan, excluding Greece, Germany, Sweden, Spain and Mexico, have censored the relationship. Alternatively, in the Cloverway/Optimum English-dubbed version, this subtext was made more taboo by way of portraying Neptune and Uranus as biological cousins who were involved in a romantic relationship with each other.6 The Studiopolis/Viz Media English-language re-dub preserves the subtext of the original material. In the 1995 favorite episode polls for Animage, "Death of Uranus and Neptune!? Talismans Appear" came in first place, "The Bond of Destiny! The Distant Days of Uranus" came in eighth place, and "The Labyrinth of Water! Ami the Targeted" came in ninth place.7 The following year, "A Bright Shooting Star! Saturn, and the Messiah" came in fifteenth place.8 Three pieces of theme music used: one opening theme and two ending themes. The opening theme, an updated version of "Moonlight Densetsu" is performed by Moon Lips. The first ending theme, used for the first two episodes, is "Otome no Policy" performed by Yoko Ishida. The second ending theme, used for the remainder of the season, is "Tuxedo Mirage" performed by Peach Hips, a group consisting of voice actresses Kotono Mitsuishi, Michie Tomizawa, Aya Hisakawa, Emi Shinohara and Rika Fukami. Cloverway used the English-language version of "Moonlight Densetsu" first commissioned for DiC Entertainment's dub of the first season and R for their adaptation. Category:TV Shows